Refrigerating apparatus



@CL ST1, 1933. 5 L HATHQRNE 1,932,731

REFRIGERATING APPARATUS Filed April 20, 1927 j, BVMW l www A TTORNE Y.

Patented Oct. 31, 1933 PATENT OFFICE 4aasiaxzsi I nEFaIcEaA'rmG APPARATUS Berkley L. Hathorne, Laconia, N. H., assignor, by mesne assignments, to Copeman Laboratories Company, Flint, Mich., a corporation of Michigan Application April 20, 1927. Serial No. 185,214

5 Claims. (Cl. 62-108-5) This invention relates to refrigerating apparatus and particularly to the vtype of apparatus adapted to be used on a small scale, such as in homes, stores, or similar places. v

More particularly this invention relates to refrigerating apparatus of the type provided with means for forming ice during the refrigerating process, which ice is used for the personal needs of the owner or operator.

In the type of apparatus now in use it is customary to provide small metallic trays for holding the liquid to be frozen. 'I'hese trays are generally provided with a grid for dividing the ice into small segments, usually cubes, so that the ice when formed will be of a size convenient to handle in the ordinary household routine.

The present practice is to make the tray and grid of metal in order that they may have high heat conductivity, but through the use of metal a serious disadvantage arises in that the water when frozen adheres firmly to the sides and bottom of the tray and to the grid so that when removed from the refrigerating device it presents a solid frozen mass of ice and metal. Then, in order to remove the ice from the tray and grid, it is necessary to invert the tray or pan and run warm water over its surface. This action loosens the ice from the tray proper, but leaves the grid or partitioning member still firmly embedded in the mass of ice. In order to separate the ice cubes from the grid it is necessary to run additional water over the frozen mass, which liberates all the cubes but causes considerable melting of the ice ,and at the same time is a cause of great inconvenience to the person performing the operation. In addition, if one desires to use only a small number of ice cubes, it is necessary, nevertheless, to liberate all the cubes in the tray and then replace the rest or else discard them.

It is an object of this invention to provide a tray suitable for ice making which permits the removal of the substance frozen therein without the aid of any extraneous means, the only operation necessary being to remove the tray from the machine, invert it, thereby permitting the grid and ice to fall out, whereupon any number of cubes of ice, as may be desired, can be released from the grid by the exertion of a slight 00 pressure of the finger, the remaining cubes bev ing left intact with the grid, whereby they may be replaced in the tray for future use.

More specically, the object of the invention is to provide a tray suitable for ice making, which tray and its accompanying grid is coated with a substance which is moisture-repellent, thereby preventing the adhesion of the frozen ice to the tray and grid, and which is, at the same time, colorless, odorless, easily applied, and free from all possibility of tainting the frozen 6( product.

Another object of the invention is to provide a moisture-repellent coating which may be applied to any cold producing device such as brine pipes, tanks and cooling units for the purpose of preventing the accumulation of frost on the surfaces thereof without materially affecting the reirigerating properties of the article coated.

A further object is to provide a coating which.. may be used in conjunction with any ice-making devices regardless of their size, thereby obviatingthe necessity of applying heat to the ice containers for the purpose of liberating the frozen mass, as is customary in the production of ice on a commercial scale.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will be readily apparent as pointed out in the accompanying drawing and description and appended claims.

In the drawing, Fig. 1 is a perspective view of 80 an ice-making tray embodying my invention, while Fig. 2 is a vertical section on the line 2 2 of Fig. l.

The tray 1D comprises a receptacle generally made of metal and having side walls l1 and a 85 bottom 12. The bottom may be formed with a concave surface as at 13 in order to permit bettei` air circulation on all sides of the receptacle.

The false front wall 14 of the tray carries a handle l5 to aid in the removal of the tray 90 from the freezing apparatus. The false front 14 is spaced some distance from the actual front wall 16 of the tray proper, as indicated at 17. This space permits cold air circulation past this wall and at the same time causes the ice-containing portion of the tray to be placed back of the line of dripping from the cooling coils (not shown) during the defrosting operation.

The tray is provided interiorly thereof with a grid or partitioning member 18, made of metal and comprising longitudinal strips 19 and transverse strips 20, these strips being equally spaced so as to form the ice in cubes as is well known in the art.

To the internal surface of the tray or pan 10 105 and to the external surfaces of the grid member 18, I apply a coating 21 of a suitable moisture-repellent substance, which when applied forms a smooth, hard and colorless surface, in no Way interfering with the ice-making operation,

but at the same time permitting the removal of the individual cubes of ice from the grid, after the same has been taken from the tray, by the simple procedure of applying a slight pressure with a finger, whereupon the cube instantly slides from the grid.

For the purpose of obtaining the desired results, I have found that the use of tung oil, or other oils having similar moisture-repellent qualities, is desirable, and with this object in view, I have prepared a composition in which tung oil is an essential element and whose component parts and method of manufacture I will now describe.

200'parts of ester gum and 200 parts of tung oil are heated together at 45o-500 degrees F. for approximately forty-five minutes. The resultant product is then cooled to room temperature and is thinned by the addition of 200 parts of toluol. This solution will hereafter be referred to as tung oil solution.

A solution composed of 32 ounces of nitrocellulose dissolved in one gallon of butyl acetate is also prepared. I then form a mixture of parts of the nitro-cellulose solution, 75 parts of the tung oil solution, 35 parts of toluol, 35 parts of butyl acetate and ve parts of lindol. This mixture is of such quality that it may be readily applied with a brush. l

If desired, approximately 5% of a metallic soap, such as aluminum soap, may be added to the final mix to provide body and assist in the moisture-repellent qualities.

The interior surface of the tray and the exposed surfaces of the grid are then painted with this mixture, which dries in about fifteen minutes. The trays are then ready for use.

While I have shown a preferred form of my invention, it is readily apparent that other forms may be utilized, all coming within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A receptacle for containing substance to be frozen, and receptacle having side walls, a base and a grid unit, and means permanently associated with said walls and base for preventing the adhesion of the frozen substance thereto and permitting said unit and frozen substance to be' ejected when said receptacle is inverted.

2. In combination, a receptacle for containing substance to be frozen, and means permanently associated with said receptacle for preventing the adhesion of the frozen substance thereto, said means including a mixture containing tung oil.

3. As a new article of manufacture a sharp freezing containing of the type adapted to be positioned in heat exchange relation with the lowside of a mechanical refrigerating system, said container being integral, a partition unit insertable in the container for dividing the container into a plurality of ice cube forming chambers, the interior surfaces of said container and at least a portion of the surfaces of said partition unit being coated with a permanent nonmetallic material containing tung oil to which ice does not readily adhere whereby to permit easy removal of the frozen article or articles.

4. A receptacle for containing a substance to be frozen, said receptacle having side walls, a base, and compartment defining partitions for dividing the frozen substance into cubes, and means permanently associated with said wa1ls,I00 base, and partitions for preventing the adhesion of the frozen substance thereto, and permitting said frozen substance to be ejected when said receptacle is inverted.

5. As a new article of manufacture, a sharp freezing container of the type adapted to be positioned in heat exchange relation with the lowside of a mechanical refrigerating system said container being formed of metal and being integral, a grid insertable in said container for dividing same into a plurality of ice cube forming chambers, all the interior surfaces of said container being coated with a smooth relatively hard material permanently associated therewith to prevent the adhesion of the ice to the Walls of said container, said smooth material permitting the grid and the formed ice cubes to be ejected when the container is inverted, the surfaces of said grid unit being also coated with said permanent relatively hard material to permit individual ice cubes to be removed therefrom.

BERKLEY L. HATHORNE.

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